Got this Verizon Jetpack® MiFi® 8800L

[camper70]

Hi! everyone I sure wish I would have known of this info a month ago. We got to Big Bend and suddenly VZ MIFI said no data available. I just assumed because we were in the middle of nowhere that it was possible. I talked to another guy camping about a mile from me and he was using his VZ MIFI with no trouble. This made no sense to me. The same thing when we got to Carlsbad. I went to 2 different Verizon stores and was told their towers were really congested and I was just at the bottom pecking order basically because of being Prepaid. My plan rolls over again in 12 days and maybe it will resolve it's self.

[Adrian Gordon]

Originally Posted by frank4711

Picked it up yesterday for some WIFI for the 5ver ... after reading about campground WIFI and reading what alot of you are using I bought this ... unlimited $65 a month no contract from Verizon... Connected last night with phone hope it works that well at the campsite

We use the mobile hot spot feature on our smartphones for this. We already have unlimited data with the phone plan and didn't see much need for a second unlimited data plan or a redundant hot spot.

[emm-dee]

Originally Posted by MR.M

Different plan . your talking this prepaid which seems fairly new . the original unlimited came with 10gb before it was throttled back then increased to 15 . this prepaid costs more i pay 45 per line not 65 , and get 15 gb . now if i use that up i'll use my phone for the rest of the month . rarely do i go over but when i do throttling back sucks .been with verizon since the 90's . don't mean to argue and really shouldn't an am sorry if i upset anyone . but i do know verizon the these prepaid are fairly new it seems

No one is upset. It’s a discussion of differing understandings, and it appears that The verizon policy of making it as confusing as possible is working. Epeny is talking about the grandfathered legacy phone/data plan. More info here:

https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/gui...ed-data-plans/

There’s a lot more info at that site but you have to be a paid subscriber to view it.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by MR.M

Different plan . your talking this prepaid which seems fairly new . the original unlimited came with 10gb before it was throttled back then increased to 15 . this prepaid costs more i pay 45 per line not 65 , and get 15 gb .

No worries. I'm not upset or angry; hope you aren't either. If you are, I'll gladly drop it- this stuff isn't worth anyone getting worked up.

But you and I are now talking the same thing- post-paid/contract plans. Ignore the topic of the thread at hand.

You and I both have post-paid/contract Verizon plans. Mine just so happens to be truly unlimited without the throttling limit like you have. I pay something like $45/month.

emm-dee shared a good link on RVMobileInternet that explains my plan.

Verizon (and all of the other providers) change their plan offerings so often, it can be confusing to make sure we're all talking about the same thing!

[mbbutler]

Originally Posted by waybeck2018

In most cases it should work fine, but there are places where nothing works! I have been using the Sprint mi-fi for years and every now and then, no connection or weak connection. To us, little in life is so important that we can not be with out an internet connection for a while. Wonder what RV folks did before mi-fi or wi-fi???

They made millennials. Stick to the mi-fi for Pete's sake!!!!

[vciriello]

Originally Posted by frank4711

Picked it up yesterday for some WIFI for the 5ver ... after reading about campground WIFI and reading what alot of you are using I bought this ... unlimited $65 a month no contract from Verizon... Connected last night with phone hope it works that well at the campsite

I just turned my iPhone into a hot spot for my daughters ipad.

[Hi Rider]

I also have a Verizon Jetpack. It replaced the one that a Verizon store sold me 3 months that was outdated. The new one works great and has not failed me anywhere that I can get a signal.

[old40ford]

Originally Posted by ependydad

Not on this pre-paid plan.

RVMobileInternet has a good write-up on it:
https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/gui...ack-data-plan/

Thanks for the link, it is very helpful.
John

[ArkRVHog]

Originally Posted by frank4711

Picked it up yesterday for some WIFI for the 5ver ... after reading about campground WIFI and reading what alot of you are using I bought this ... unlimited $65 a month no contract from Verizon... Connected last night with phone hope it works that well at the campsite

Though my main cell service is with AT&T, I bought a cheap "smart" phone and set up a Verizon prepaid account. Like you said $65-70 for 30 days of unlimited (for the most part) data. I simply make my phone the hotspot to access the data. What is the benefit of a MIFI set-up versus my stand-a-lone phone? I like the flexibility of having both services active for phone & text as one does work better than the other in different parts of the country. Thanks!

[emm-dee]

Originally Posted by ArkRVHog

Though my main cell service is with AT&T, I bought a cheap "smart" phone and set up a Verizon prepaid account. Like you said $65-70 for 30 days of unlimited (for the most part) data. I simply make my phone the hotspot to access the data. What is the benefit of a MIFI set-up versus my stand-a-lone phone? I like the flexibility of having both services active for phone & text as one does work better than the other in different parts of the country. Thanks!

Have you tried using the phone as a hotspot? According to published info the prepaid unlimited cannot be used as a hotspot in a phone...only on a hotspot device (ie 8800L or 7730).

From rvmobileinternet site:

Mobile Hotspot Use:
Phones and tablets on tiered plans allow mobile hotspot use of all data - but speeds are throttled to 3G/600kbps.
Phones and tablets on unlimited plan have no mobile hotspot.
Hotspot devices as a line on tiered plans can hotspot all data on that tier at full speed.
Hotspot devices (aka Jetpacks) as a line on an unlimited plan can hotspot unlimited data at full speed data - but that hotspot data is always network managed.
Tablets/Hotspot Devices: Can be activated as a single line on unlimited or tiered data prepaid plans.

Read the entire article here:

https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/ver...packs/#hotspot

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by waybeck2018

Wonder what RV folks did before mi-fi or wi-fi???

We just camped and left life's stresses at home

Times have changed and with more and more people full timing, even working their job from their "campsites" I can see the need and benefit from modern communication.

For people like myself (retired over 15 years) I really like camping where there's no TV or Wifi or Cell service. Getting older though and have had one major medical emergency in my recent live (how proud owner of a quad bypass) so I've considered carrying either an emergency personal locator beacon or Sat Phone.

The "beacons" are commonly used by back country hikers and when activated use GPS and Irridium satellites to send a distress call along with your location to the central search and rescue center. You can communicate your problem via text.

After 40 years of working in a career that kept me tied to phones, pagers, and e-mail, I am enjoying immensely my time away from the communication "Leash".

[vciriello]

Originally Posted by emm-dee

Have you tried using the phone as a hotspot? According to published info the prepaid unlimited cannot be used as a hotspot in a phone...only on a hotspot device (ie 8800L or 7730).

From rvmobileinternet site:

Mobile Hotspot Use:
Phones and tablets on tiered plans allow mobile hotspot use of all data - but speeds are throttled to 3G/600kbps.
Phones and tablets on unlimited plan have no mobile hotspot.
Hotspot devices as a line on tiered plans can hotspot all data on that tier at full speed.
Hotspot devices (aka Jetpacks) as a line on an unlimited plan can hotspot unlimited data at full speed data - but that hotspot data is always network managed.
Tablets/Hotspot Devices: Can be activated as a single line on unlimited or tiered data prepaid plans.

Read the entire article here:

https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/ver...packs/#hotspot

My phone isn’t prepaid. It on a Verizon unlimited plan. I didn’t check the speed, but next time I will. My daughter didn’t complain though.....

[aceinspp]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

We just camped and left life's stresses at home

Times have changed and with more and more people full timing, even working their job from their "campsites" I can see the need and benefit from modern communication.

For people like myself (retired over 15 years) I really like camping where there's no TV or Wifi or Cell service. Getting older though and have had one major medical emergency in my recent live (how proud owner of a quad bypass) so I've considered carrying either an emergency personal locator beacon or Sat Phone.

The "beacons" are commonly used by back country hikers and when activated use GPS and Irridium satellites to send a distress call along with your location to the central search and rescue center. You can communicate your problem via text.

After 40 years of working in a career that kept me tied to phones, pagers, and e-mail, I am enjoying immensely my time away from the communication "Leash".

X-2 we also tend to not depend on all the hi tech things but do have and have the cheapest plans and if we get Wi Fi fine if not no big deal. I like you worked where I was on 24 hr call and when I took vacations I made sure had no phones available. Now when camping and no service WD tend to read on I pad I go out sit under awning turn on my satellite radio and listen to 60s music and have a cold one and just relax as camping should be. Later RJD

[MR.M]

Originally Posted by ependydad

No worries. I'm not upset or angry; hope you aren't either. If you are, I'll gladly drop it- this stuff isn't worth anyone getting worked up.

But you and I are now talking the same thing- post-paid/contract plans. Ignore the topic of the thread at hand.

You and I both have post-paid/contract Verizon plans. Mine just so happens to be truly unlimited without the throttling limit like you have. I pay something like $45/month.

emm-dee shared a good link on RVMobileInternet that explains my plan.

Verizon (and all of the other providers) change their plan offerings so often, it can be confusing to make sure we're all talking about the same thing!

Not up-set i just know sometimes my posts are taken badly or the tone that comes across is not whats intended . sometimes it is though . i have unlimited 45 per line 2 lines . they just came out with it in the spring of 17 i believe up until then they had no unlimited that i know of . i got on the unlimited plan a week before they made the announcement as i just happend to call them complaining about paying $10, of a gb if going over the plan they signed me up . this pre-paid is new to me as i've always had an account with them , auto pay . seems after i use up my wifi jet pack 15 i can use the phone as my hotspot and stay at the faster download rate . not often but i do go over and would like to start some type of steaming . roku, firestick , etc .whihc you need lots of data it seems

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by aceinspp

X-2 we also tend to not depend on all the hi tech things but do have and have the cheapest plans and if we get Wi Fi fine if not no big deal. I like you worked where I was on 24 hr call and when I took vacations I made sure had no phones available. Now when camping and no service WD tend to read on I pad I go out sit under awning turn on my satellite radio and listen to 60s music and have a cold one and just relax as camping should be. Later RJD

Glad to hear I'm not the only one that likes old music and a good book.

I just acquired all 15 books from one of my favorite authors and intend to read from book one through 15 this year. A single central character through the series. It will be like reading 5 copies of War and Peace

As for Music, I kind of prefer Classic Country and Bluegrass to 60's but hey, everyone has their favorites.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by MR.M

Not up-set i just know sometimes my posts are taken badly or the tone that comes across is not whats intended . sometimes it is though . i have unlimited 45 per line 2 lines . they just came out with it in the spring of 17 i believe up until then they had no unlimited that i know of . i got on the unlimited plan a week before they made the announcement as i just happend to call them complaining about paying $10, of a gb if going over the plan they signed me up .

Cool. Glad we're on the same page with the posts. Emotion and intent is so hard to convey through the screen.

Yep, so I bought this line back in late 2015 or early 2016. It had to have been initially acquired prior to that. According to RVMobileInternet, Verizon stopped offering these plans in 2011. So the original plan that I bought had to have been acquired prior to that.

But, these plans were kind of a blackmarket purchase when I did it. I paid a person $1,000 so that he would sign it over to me. After that 1-time purchase, my bill is with Verizon directly.